TSA did not call local authorities during LAX attack, Michael McCaul says

An airline contractor, not a member of the Transportation Security Administration, informed local authorities in Los Angeles during the deadly attack at the city’s international airport earlier this month, said Texas Rep. Michael McCaul Thursday.

Rep. Mike McCaul is chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

During a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing discussing the deadly attack at LAX, McCaul, who is chairman of the committee, said no one from the TSA pressed a panic button in an area where the shooting took place, according to Politico.

McCaul said the phone in the screening checkpoint was “understandably” not used because TSA officials were evacuating the area. The shooter, who was carrying 150 rounds of ammunition, had several minutes to carry out the attack before law enforcement responded, McCaul said.

“The gunman had four unobstructed minutes,” McCaul said, according to Politico. “Four minutes is a long time.”